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Hargeysa,
Somaliland, August 30, 2009 – Hundred of angry but peaceful protesters
have poured into the surroundings of the parliament in Hargeysa today
following the intervention of yesterday’s parliamentary session by
police who had claimed they were “acting under direct orders of the
president”.
Armed policemen yesterday forced the Speaker of the Lower House of
Parliament, Abdirahman Mohammed Abdillahi, to allow six of the
president’s zealous loyalists, who were suspended for 3 days from
sessions to attend and participate in the parliamentary session
irrespective of the Speaker’s disciplinary decision.
Somalilanders were up in arms over the police intrusion into the affairs
of the parliament.
Hundreds of people came out on the streets today to stand shoulder to
shoulder with their parliamentarians to stave off any attempt by the
police to enter the parliament.
It was a message of “keep your hands off our parliament,” says a witness
Armed policemen barricaded the main roads leading to the presidential
palace and took positions in various places of the city centre.
The legislative leadership set up a committee to look into some security
concerns raised by members of the House and also investigate into the
events that led up to the police intrusion into parliament yesterday.
The Speaker then announced that the parliament will reconvene after two
days.
As soon as the legislators came out of the parliament’s building, scores
of protesters advanced to the parliament’s direction at which point the
police began firing live bullets on the people, dispersing them to all
directions. Amazingly, no one was hurt.
A confrontation of this sort is likely to repeat itself in the coming
days as protest gathers momentum countrywide.
Analysts point out that Rayale’s political difficulties have deepened in
recent weeks and as a result he has become increasingly paranoid. He has
feuded with the leaders of both Houses of Parliament, breached the
Electoral Law of the country by reaching a “unilateral decision” to hold
the forthcoming presidential election “without voter registration list”,
turned a deaf ear to donor countries’ appeal to reverse his “unwise
decision” and contemptuously rebuffed a parliamentary resolution calling
for him to reverse his decision within seven days.
The time remaining for Rayale to put his house in order is fast running
out: his mandate will expire in October this year and an impeachment
hangs over his head.
He is a drowning man desperately clutching at straws, and dragging the
nation under with him.
Source: Somaliland Globe
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